Being Wrong
by Brylee16
Summary: The patient wants the pain to stop. House wants to solve the puzzle. Cameron wants to help the patient feel better. And Chase only wants Cameron! (A story in 3 chapters. Chase/Cameron)
1. Chapter 1

**Title: Being Wrong**

**Author: Brylee16**

**Rating: T**

**Summary: When a patient is brought into the clinic with almost unbearable pain, the case is passed on to Dr. House and his team. Cameron wants to sedate the patient to make him feel better, but Foreman doesn't trust him because of his past... Meanwhile, Chase has a severe crush on Cameron and a hard time focussing on the case...**

**Author's note: This was originally meant to be a one-shot, but as I got more into it, it somehow transformed itself into a story of 14 pages. Therefore, I decided to break it up into 3 parts for you guys. Enjoy and feel free to leave a comment! :)**

Her eyes were the first thing he noticed, when he stepped into the room. Those big, blue eyes looking up at him from below, where she was sitting. Chase had spent so much time at home thinking about them. Their shape, their color... They were right in the middle between _Royal Blue _and _Sapphire_. He knew that, because he'd been sitting at home, trying to describe Cameron's eyes as accurately as he could and found that he didn't know a word for their color. People on the internet did, though, and after staring at his screen and about 40 different shades of blue for a couple of minutes, he had come to the previous conclusion.

All the sudden, the expression of these eyes changed. "Morning, Chase. Are you okay?"

It was only now, with Cameron raising her eyebrows at him, that he noticed how akwardly he was blocking the door frame. Foreman looked amused for some reason. "Sure, I'm all good!", he responded, sounding a little too rushed, and just when he had decided to sit down and wait for his boss to arrive, he felt a familiar cane hit his leg semi-gently. Right behind him, House cleared his throat in a demonstrative manner and Chase took a seat quickly.

Without taking further notice of his team, House began to write on the white board only one word:

_Pain_.

When the three member of his team only stared, he started talking as well: "42-year-old Caucasian. Male. The only symptom is constant and unbearable pain. No apparent cause."

"Anything else?", Cameron asked. _Her lips..._ She was wearing the slightest bit of lip gloss. Enough to make them shine, but still look natural. Chase felt his heart make an unexpected jump at that sight.

"Yes", House answered, looking straight at them. "He was brought in here with a blood clot in his leg. It was removed and that's when the pain started. He says it's strongest in his arms." He paused for a moment, then said: "Any ideas?"

"More clots?", Chase suggested vaguely. It was hard to focus on the case with Cameron sitting right in front of him. Especially after he noticed that she was wearing a brown skirt and tights today. That was unusual, but he wasn't going to complain...

"Negative", House asserted. He sounded annoyed and Chase started biting his lower lip. "That's kind of what I meant when I said that there is _no apparent cause_. Obviously, he was already checked for more clots...!"

Chase said nothing. How was he supposed to focus with Cameron pushing back a strain of hair like that? With Chase trying hard not to stare at her, and Cameron still fixing her bangs, Foreman spoke up: "If there is no apparent cause and the only symptom is pain, how do we know he's not just faking it? Does he happen to have a drug history?"

House gave him a sly look. "Maybe..."

Foreman groaned and leaned back in his chair, openly expressing his exasperation. "Then why are we wasting our time with him? Seriously, he's not a case at all. He's just some addict, trying to..."

"Foreman!", Cameron interrupted him and Chase noticed how her eyes sparkled a little with that passion of hers. It was just like her to defend a man she had never met. "You don't know that! We really shouldn't judge him before we know all the facts! He deserves to be treated like any other patient, no matter what happened in his past!"

"You don't get it, do you?" Chase didn't like the way Foreman argued with her, even though he knew that Cameron could defend herself. "It's not just something that happens once in your life and then you get over it and move on. Addictions don't ever leave you again. You may be able to suppress them, but first chance you get you'll be high on whatever it is that you like again!"

"Speaking from experience, Foreman?", House inquired dryly.

"Funny." Foreman didn't sound amused at all. "I say, let's see how long he can keep up his little game! He can't pretend he's in pain forever. Sooner or later he'll grow tired of it."

"That's cruel", Cameron pointed out. She had her lips pressed together now and didn't look happy at all.

"It's better than giving him what he wants!", Foreman argued.

"Maybe all he wants is for the pain to stop!" Now she looked seriously upset. _Still pretty though_, Chase thought and wanted to slap himself. A serious debate was going on and all he could think about was his female collegue! Cameron was still going on about the case: "We have no proof of him faking anything! If he is in actual pain, it'd be terrible of us to deny him the sedatives!"

"Well", House responded. "If Foreman's right and he is a junkie, then giving them to him would be the worst thing we could do."

"So now what?", Chase asked. He didn't really have an opinion on the whole thing yet. Some weird instinct told him to side with Cameron, but he decided to stay neutral instead.

"I'd say, we wait it out", House suggested, turning around to look at the white board again. "He was brought in here with the blood clot at 6pm. Now it's 7:30. Let's give him one night."

Foreman nodded, obviously pleased that House had adapted his thesis. "We'll see if he's still in pain in the morning. And we should also ask one of the nurses to keep an eye on him. I doubt that he'll keep up the drama throughout the whole night."

Cameron rolled her eyes and let out a deep sigh. "That's unethical", she said, shaking her head at Foreman and House. Another strain of her hair slipped out of her ponytail and curled itself around the side of her face like a frame. Chase clutched his hands under the table. She didn't notice it and went on: "How can we go home, knowing that we are voluntarily denying a patient treatment? He's suffering and just because of his past we will let him suffer...?!"

House seemed unimpressed by the rage in the tone of her voice. "If you feel so bad about it, go and feed him some valerian. You could also play him some classical music. Mozart is said to have a soothing effect, for example."

She looked as though she's been hit in the face and all of a sudden Chase felt the strong urge to kick at House's cane, causing him to fall. Cameron glared at their boss, her lips a thin line, and finally she let out a: "Fine."

"Great", House said with a smile, winked at Cameron and limped out of the room. His team followed soon after and on the way out, Chase turned to Foreman: "So now are we actually going home?"

"Well, that's what I'll do!"

Cameron was walking behind them and didn't say anything. Chase wanted to talk to her, maybe cheer her up somehow, but he had no idea what to say without making things any worse.

It was only when they were already in the elevator, that he came up with something. "Should we maybe have a look at him? That's the least we can do without actually treating him."

"Good idea", Cameron said, a little grimply, but still Chase's stomach felt as though it was practicing summersaults. Maybe it showed on his face, but Cameron couldn't notice, because she had her back turned to him, looking at Foreman. "Are you gonna come with?"

Foreman shrugged. "Sure, why not? But I'll keep in mind that junkies are good actors. Anybody who's looking for a fix is, you know?"

Even before they entered the room, they could hear the screams echoing down the hallway.

"Jeezus...", Foreman muttered under his breath. "He's _good _at that."

As they entered the room, the man on the bed didn't open his eyes. He was doubling over, clutching his arms around his body as if trying desperately to keep all of his organs in place. Sounds of agony escaped his mouth and his face was a grotesque grimace. Chase felt bad for him right away.

Foreman cleared his throat in order to draw the patient's attention to them. The man looked up, panting, as though trying hard to keep himself from further screaming.

"These are Doctor Cameron and Doctor Foreman and my name is Doctor Chase", said Chase, because he felt that someone should say something. "We are Doctor House's team."

"And... where... is this... Doctor House?", the man asked, blurting out the sentence in brackets as if getting out every single word by itself was a great effort.

"Right now he is assessing your case", Cameron answered with a noticable amount of bitterness.

The man started screaming again. He leaned back, his knuckles white from clawing his own sides.

He started rocking a little. To Chase it looked like a poor attempt to comfort himself in his misery.

This was wrong. If Cameron was right, then _they _were part of the reason why this man was in agony. Then again... if Foreman was right, then they were doing him a favor by denying him the chance to engage in further substance abuse.

"Please!", the man yelled, looking up at them with shiny, wide eyes. „Give me something! Make it stop!" Then he started groaning again and picked up on the rocking. Additionally, he started throwing his head around fitfully.

"I'm sorry!", Chase said, undecided if he meant it or not.

"We cannot give you any medication right now!", Foreman added. "Dr. House thinks it's best to monitor you over-night!"

The man let out another deep growl, grimacing strangely.

"We are really sorry!", Cameron said and her voice trembled just a tiny bit. "In the morning, we'll reconsider your situation."

He didn't respond, threw himself back against the pillow that was propped up behind him, and didn't even look after Foreman as he left the room with a cold: "'til then."

"Come on", Chase said as gently as possible, turning to Cameron. "Let's go."

She just let out another sigh and followed him. His heart started beating faster as soon as they left the patient's room. Foreman had already walked off, so it was only him and her... Only... what was he supposed to say? Chase really wanted to comfort her. He knew how hard this was on her and he wished for a way to make her feel better. If only he knew what to say... if only he could find the words...

"Alright", she said, even though he was still hectically planning their conversation in his head. "That does it. I'm going back to talk to House. I can't let this happen."

"Wha..."

But she didn't wait for his approval. She rushed off without another word, and there he stood, like an idiot. _Great_, Chase thought to himself. _Foreman gone, Cameron gone. Now what?_

Should he go after Cameron and try to support her in her talk with House? Some part of him thought that this was a great idea, as long as it involved some more time in the same room with her. However, another rational voice told him that she liked being independent and would probably be irritated by his unexpected help.  
So should he go back to see the patient? Well, he could still hear some screams that sounded like their producer was trying to stiffle them with a cushion. Without success. No, this man would not be able to even have a basic conversation with anyone, so what was the point in going back?

He was also off clinic duty and it was going to get dark soon, so the only logical thing to do seemed

to involve leaving the clinic and possibly go home. After just one last moment of hesitation at the front door, with Cameron's desperate face as a clear mental image in his head, Chance finally decided to do just that and stepped out of the building.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Okay people, here's the second part, which is mostly about Chase and his feelings for Cameron. Also he has a longer dream about her... until he is interrupted unexpectedly!

Please read and review so I can feel encouraged to post the last part, where most of the action happens! ;)

He'd been home for almost three hours and relaxation still hadn't sunk in. Chase's mind was constantly on Cameron and what had happened in the clinic. He found himself unable to judge their case and instead feeling the strange urge to drive by Cameron's apartment and have a talk with her.

He had tried to distract himself with anything that came to his mind. At first he'd made himself some tea, which he had sipped slowly in his kitchen. Then, at some point he had started reading in his medical dictionary and from that he had gone to solving medicine-related crossword puzzles. (Yes, in his mind a good doctor constantly improved his knowledge and should learn at least one new thing every day.) Afterwards, Chase had made himself another tea and now the mug with the cold liquid stood in front of him on the kitchen table and he felt strangely tense. Somehow it felt like his day wasn't over yet, like he still had somewhere to go... After another five minutes of staring at the cold black tea, Chase thought to himself: _Okay, that does it. Your day is over, you've done what you could. _Finally, he poured the rest of his tea into the sink, put down the mug and went into his living room, where he turned on the TV. Of course this wasn't the most intriguing entertainment he could imagine, but it would help take his mind off the case and hopefully relax him a little. Idly, he started going through he channels. Somehow, they seemed to only show stupid shows on a Thursday evening, but at some point he decided that he didn't really care and just watched a random show on pranking people. Then, after that, he watched a silly soap. And after _that_ he even endured a whole episode of a show on zoo animals.

It was after midnight when Chase finally felt his head get heavy and his thoughts fuzzy and slightly incoherent. It was then that he turned off his TV, stripped down to his boxers and crawled under the covers of his bed. He felt himself drift off and then, right before he fell asleep, images of a desperate Cameron, a suffering patient and an indifferent House came back to him one last time.

In the next second, it was all gone...

_He felt grass under his naked feet and a soft, pleasant breeze reached his face. _

"_Come on!", a bright, cheerful voice called ahead of him. Cameron's voice. "We're almost there."_

_She was taking him somewhere and he was excited. It was warm summer night and she was in such a good mood. All the sudden, he noticed that there were lightning bugs all around them. "Look it!", he called out to Cameron and pointed at one. She looked back for a second so that the bugs' light reflected in her big eyes and made them look like the night sky sprankled with stars. Chase's heart jumped. "Come on!", Cameron repeated and he picked up the speed of his foot steps. Chase was so fascinated by the tiny lights moving all around him that he only noticed that Cameron had stopped walking when she grabbed his wrist. Her fingers were thin and soft, but her touch was firm. "We're here", she said happily and as Chase looked up, it spread out in front of him. A pool! It was huge and the moonlight reflected upon the surface of the water. The sight was so beautiful that Chase automatically held his breath for a while. Cameron's fingers slid down to his hand and she sqeezed it a little. "Do you wanna go for a swim?", she asked and he could only nod. This is too perfect to be true, he thought. The feeling got even stronger when Cameron stepped away from him and started ridding herself of her cute yellow summer dress, revealing bare skin. Chase was so fascinated that all he could do was stand and watch, as she sat down on the edge of the pool, letting her legs slip into the water. She looked up at him with a smile and he thought his heart was going to stop. This was almost too much. "Are you just going to stand there and watch or are you gonna finally take off your clothes?" Without a moment of hesitation, Chase took of his shorts and shirt. _

_Meanwhile, Cameron let herself drop into the pool, went under and came back up with a smile on her face. "How's the water?", Chase asked. _

„_Warm!"_

_Chase felt his skin tingle in anticipation of pressing his own body against Cameron's with only a thin layer of water between them... This was the best thing that had ever happened to him! Excitedly, he took a step towards the edge of the pool, when... _

"Wha...?!" A piercing noise was shrilling through the room and Chase groaned. For a second, he considered hiding under his pillows and waiting it out. Then he remembered that he was a doctor, which meant that he had to get up in the morning when his alarm went off. But was it even his alarm? And was it _morning_...?

Somehow he wasn't surprised when he sat up and found out that it was still completely dark outside. The next thing he discovered was that his cell phone was emitting the terrible noises somewhere within that darkness. Moaning, Chase crawled out from under his blanket and got up. He got a little dizzy, but kept following the sound of the cell phone, when all the sudden a pain shot through his foot. _Great. _Stepping on the buckle of the belt, which he had thrown onto the ground right next to his bed last night, wasn't really the most pleasant thing right after waking up. When he finally reached his cell phone and the display said: "Foreman", his mood darkened even more.

"M'what it it...?", he mumbled without the slightest bit of enthusiasm.

Foreman's voice. He didn't sound amused, either. "You need to come to the clinic right now."

"You kidding me? It's dark out. It's not even..." Chase trailed off, looking around for his watch.

"I'm serious. You need to come. House said."

"But why?!" Chase sounded almost desperate. _There better be a good reason..._

"Patient's gone."

Chase frowned. "What do you mean 'Patient's gone'?"

"I mean, 'Patient's gone', as in we can't find the guy!"

"Um... are we talking about the guy who was in so much pain he could barely speak one coherent sentence, let alone walk over to the bathroom without help?"

"Will you stop asking stupid questions and move your ass over here? House is pissed."

The last three words were enough to convince Chase. He hung up quickly and went to turn on the light. The brightness hurt his eyes and he felt drowsy and sleepy. But House said. So he would get to the clinic as soon as possible, no matter what time it was...

A bit later he stepped into the clinic in some random clothes that he had thrown on, still half asleep.

When the elevator doors opened on the second floor, the voices of his team collegues already welcomed him. They were arguing.

"I'm telling you, Cameron! He just took off when he realized that his plan wasn't working!"

"And what exactly is that judgement based on? Stereotypes? Childhood memories? You don't even know him!"

Chase walked over to them and cleared his throat in order to make his presence known.

"What took you so long?", barked House, who had been preoccupied with staring into the distance until Chase's arrival. Unlike Cameron and Foreman, he was sitting on the ground.

"Hey, I just woke up!", Chase answered defensively and at the same time hated how whiny he sounded.

"At least you got to sleep at all!", Foreman grumbled. "Some others, like me, were on clinic duty, you see?"

When his curiosity won over the wish to start a fight with Foreman, Chase asked: "So? What are the details? When did you discover he was missing?"

"Right before Foreman called you", Cameron responded, sounding breathless. Her face looked flushed. Maybe she'd been running?

"And you haven't found him yet?", Chase inquired.

"Obviously not, smart one!" House didn't even bother to look at him. In return, Chase decided to ignore his comment.

"Checked the roof?" Chase was reminded of a case a couple of month ago, where a teenage boy, their patient, had gone missing and they'd found him on the clinic's roof.

"Of course. First place we went." Foreman looked annoyed.

Chase let out a sigh. "Other patients' rooms?"

Cameron looked up and their eyes locked for a weird moment. It was as if he could feel her desperation by just looking into that deep blue...

"We've checked every single floor! We even went into every single stall in the bathrooms!"

"Hm..."

There was a pause. All the sudden everyone was staring at their own shoes, lost in thought.

Then Foreman spoke: "He's a junkie! I bet he's just out on the streets again! He got in here to get drugs and -"

"He had a blood clot in his leg!", Cameron interrpted, but Foreman simply ignored her.

"...then we told him that we won't give him any medication, so he left. Simple as that."

"And what if you're wrong?", Cameron argued. "What if he really is sick and in pain, maybe wandering around, completely disoriented?"  
"I agree with Cameron", Chase blurted out.

Both Foreman and Cameron looked at him. He blushed a little. Then Foreman's lips curled into a sneer. "We all know there's only one reason why you would side with Cameron. And the patient has nothing to do with it."

Chase didn't know what to say. Somehow he wished he hadn't interrupted his collegues' argument.

Luckily, House ended the awkward silence, when he mumbled: "Where does a junkie go, when he's in desperate need of his substance?" He had his head cocked to the side and wasn't talking to anyone in particular. Still Foreman answered: "Where ever he can find his substance?"

"Precisely..." House was still mumbling. Then, all the sudden, he looked up at them. "Who checked the storage room on the third floor?"

Silence. Cameron and Foreman were staring at each other, as if trying to blame the other by just looking at him.

"Oh, you idiots!", House said and got up with astonishing smoothness. "Let's go!"

Chase and Cameron started running towards the elevator simultaneously, House limping after them and Foreman walking casually. It seemed like the elevator was taking longer than usually to arrive and then afterwards to reach the third floor. As soon as the doors opened, Chase and Cameron started running again. In one move, Chase yanked open the door to the storage room and stumbled through the door frame. He gasped when he noticed the man on the ground. Cameron didn't stop in time and stumbled into him. For the first time, Chase didn't really notice their bodies touching.

The man one the ground looked up at him. It was their patient. Of course it was. Open boxes and pills were scattered all over the ground. It looked almost as if a little kid had spilled tons of smarties all over the ground. Only that, strangely, many of them were plain white.

"Doctor...", the man said, reaching out for Chase with his hands. "I'm just looking for my pills. Can't seem to find the right ones... I can't... find them..."

"Did you take any of these?", Chase asked as calm as he could.

"Took... a few. Painkillers. I need them, you know? But they're not my right ones..." The man was almost whining. It was pathetic.

Chase turned around to see Foreman with a look of triumph on his face.

Cameron's expression was horrified.

And House's face... was an expressionless mask. "You told me you were clean."

A wave of hurt seemed to have hit the patient. He grimaced again, looking tortured by self-hatred.

"I was...!", he said. "I promise! When they brought me in here with the clot, I hadn't taken anything in long. But then in here... it was too tempting. I tried to get you guys to give me something, but it didn't work on you. When I realized that I couldn't fool you, I decided to just give it up and leave. Until... until she came and gave it to me. After that, I was out of control."

He raised one trembling finger, pointing at Cameron. A look of horror spread over her face, as Chase, Foreman and House turned their heads to look at her.

"You did what...?", House asked tonelessly.

Cameron closed her eyes for a moment. She seemed close to tears. Then she whispered: "I gave him some painkillers. I just couldn't stand the way he was suffering! I thought Foreman was wrong and I just wanted to help. I'm sorry."

A tense, uncomfortable silence followed her confession. Then House began to yell: "You being sorry isn't enough! You did the one thing I asked you not to do! I could fire you for this! I can't believe you, Cameron! Think of what you did! You were so worried about this man that you got him hooked on drugs again! You just decided to be a hero and act behind my back! You thought you were the only person on this team with moral values. Thought that you were better than us. But guess what, Cameron? You were wrong...!"

Then House broke off and gave the words time to really sink in. Chase was amazed at the fact that Cameron's cheeks were still dry, even though she was blinking an unnaturally frequent amount.

He wanted to hold her and gently push her face towards his comforting shoulder, but right when he had decided to stand up for her and possibly risk his job in order to protect hers, House said: "Chase, Foreman. Leave. Take the patient with you. Get those pills out of his system."

Chase, who was too used to obeying, automatically knelt down and grabbed the patient's arm. Foreman helped him pull the man to his feet and together they left the storage room. However, as they dragged the helpless man towards the bathrooms, Chase's heart was aching. He'd left Cameron in there with House. And House was pissed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Here comes the final part of my little story! Interestingly, I had planned it as a one-shot and this chapter is pretty much what I had originally come up with: Chase/Cameron 3**

**Pretty fluffy, I believe. Please tell me what you think! Thanks! :)**

They had made the patient throw up until they were sure that none of the substances he had taken in would move from his stomach into further digestive organs and from there into his blood stream.

After that, they had discharged him with a strong advise for psychological treatment. Was he going to get that? Chase had no idea, but at the moment he was more concerned about something else. What had House said to Cameron? How was she?

After a brief conversation with Foreman emphasizing the fact that _he_ had been right and Chase only throwing in "Yap"s and "Hm"s at random times, Foreman had gone home, claiming that obviously their case, which hadn't really ever been a case, as he had said all along, was solved.

Now Chase was all alone again, but since his next shift started in just a couple of hours, he figured that he might as well just say. Also, he would have never found the peace to sleep at home anyways, with Cameron being on his mind even more than usually. He needed to find her and talk to her.

Hoping with all his heart that she hadn't simply gone home after her encounter with House, Chase, who had walked all the way down to the main door of the clinic with Foreman, went up to the second floor again, where House's office was.

And there she was. She was all alone and had her head resting on the table, so Chase couldn't see her face. He just really hoped that she wasn't crying. All the sudden, a weird image crossed his mind: Cameron, smiling, sitting on the edge of a pool... He had no idea, where that came from, but it gave him the necessary courage to push against the door and enter the room.

She looked up, as he closed the door behind him. Luckily, there were no tears on her face, but she looked really sad nonetheless.

Chase felt like he should say something, so he tried a quiet: "Hey...?"

"Hi", she responded and managed a tiny smile. After only a second, it was gone again. Chase noticed that he was moving slowly, as if she was a small animal and he didn't want to scare her off.

When she pulled back a chair for him, he was surprised, but he accepted the offer gladly and sat down next to her. There were still a couple of significant inches between them.

"What he say to you?", Chase asked and then he wanted to slap himself. _How very sensitive. _This wasn't really the best way to start their conversation.

"Well..." Her voice was weak. She sounded devastated. "He told me that the only reason why he doesn't fire me is because he doesn't want Cuddy to know about this. Went on about what a pathetic doctor I am with my emotions always getting in the way. He pretty much told me that I'm not worth working under him..." She broke off, apparently choking back her tears.

"Oh..." _Darn it._ Now here he was, in a situation where he could comfort her and finally make her better, and one lousy syllable was all he could come up with? Chase took a deep breath and tried again: "That's just House. Now he's all fury, but as soon as we've got our next case, he will have forgotten."

Cameron didn't answer, only started burrowing her face in her hands. _Oh no... _Desperately, Chase went on. "I mean it! Honestly, don't worry about it! That's just the way he is! He's probably just trying to make sure that you won't disobey him ever again!"

Apparently, this had been the wrong thing to say, because tiny sobs started escaping from Cameron's mouth. Again, Chase wanted to slap himself. Now he didn't know what to say anymore at all. He had been insecure before, but now that she was actually crying... He scooched his chair a tiny bit closer to her. _There goes one inch of distance between us._ That was something.

Since he couldn't really think of anything helpful to say, Chase just sat and waited, until at some point Cameron dropped her hands and looked at him. Her eyes appeared even more radiant now that they were filled with water. "You know", she started. "I really thought I was right. I know, it was a big mistake, but I just couldn't stand the idea of letting a patient suffer only because we had a suspicion that he was faking it."

"It's okay", Chase said, looking straight at her. "I understand. And House won't fire you, believe me. He knows why you acted they way you acted and deep down he admires you for it. Also, you're just too valuable to his team. He could never kick you out of it because of something like this."

The expression in Cameron's eyes changed and she let out the quietest of Thank Yous. It was merely a whisper. Still, tears were running down her face.

"You know what he once told me?", she asked him, sobbing again. Of course, she didn't wait for his answer and Chase felt so helpless. "He told me that he only hired me because of the way I look."

Cameron laughed a weird little laugh that sounded more sad than anything else.

For once, Chase didn't think about his answer. "If that's true", he said, "then House is one lucky bastard!"

She frowned a little and started rubbing the wetness off her cheeks. "What do you mean?"

Chase felt himself blush, as he said: „I mean... that House is lucky to have you work for him, because you are not only one of the prettiest, but also one of the smartest girls in this country."

Cameron only blinked. She looked too surprised to respond. Then she started sobbing again. "Thank you so much!"

Well, he just wished she would have accepted his compliment without the crying. Other than that, Chase was proud he'd actually said what was on his mind for once. He decided to take it a step further by saying: "I'm also lucky to work with you."

She looked at him, cocked her head slightly as if she was trying to figure him out. "Thanks."

"I mean it, Cameron."

She smiled again, just a little, and then it vanished. He could see that there was something on her mind. A question maybe.

"What it it?"

She took a deep breath, then she asked him: "Do you think I'm a good doctor?" Her eyes were piercing him now, demanding honesty. But Chase saw no point in lying. "Of course, you are!"

"But..." She started biting her lower lip. "But I was wrong today."

"So what? We're all wrong sometimes. Even House is. What matters is that you stood up for what you believed in. That's one of your greatest strengths, Allison!" Oh no... Had he really just called her by her first name? She noticed, too, but luckily decided to ignore it. They went on with discussing their case and Chase felt himself get more confident with every minute. She was finally opening up to him! This wasn't like any conversation they'd had before. She was telling him about all the doubts on her mind and he was comforting her. However, there was still some kind of barrier between them. Those couple inches that were so little but meant so much.

After a while, their conversation died down a little. She had stopped crying and seemed a little better. Chase, on the other hand, was afraid that now she was feeling better, maybe they wouldn't find anything else to talk about and she would just leave him.

"Hey", she said suddenly. "You know what day it is?"

"Some day in February?"

She smiled. "It's Valentine's Day."

"Really?" Since his high school days, Chase hadn't really been all that excited about these kind of things. However, this was something completely different. He was amazed at the way that all the pieces were falling into place, so unexpectedly.

"You got a Valentine's Day date for tonight?", Cameron asked in a neutral tone and he shook his head. "Haven't had one since my senior year. You?"

"Nope", she said with a melancholic smile. "But that's okay."

"Sure."

Chase wanted to ask her out, invite her for dinner and spend the evening with her, but somehow he couldn't get himself to ask. Something about this didn't seem right. He felt like if he asked her right now, she would simply turn him down.

About a minute passed with neither of them speaking a word. Again, it was Cameron who interrupted the silence. "My hands are cold."

Now what was that supposed to mean? Did she want him to hold them? No, then she would have just put her hands on his. Right?

"Oh." _Not again. _He needed something better than 'Oh', so he quickly added: "I'll make us some tea" and got up to do just that. Immediately, Chase realized that getting up had been a mistake. Now he was walking away from her, bringing more distance between them and she looked lost and lonely again. The water took forever to boil, but he didn't dare moving back to her without the promised tea. When the water was finally done, Chase was so distracted that he accidently poured it over his hand instead of the tea bag. He gasped and put his other hand to his mouth in order to keep silent. Cameron noticed anyways and got up quickly, a look of concern on her face.

"What did you do?"

"Burned...myself...", he answered through gritted teeth.

"Oh no...!" She walked over to him and while he just stood there, Cameron grapped his wrist without hesitation, turned on the fossit and held his hand with the burned skin under the cold water.

It was extremely pleasant and for a moment, Chase just stood there, enjoying the pain relief.

Then, all the sudden, he noticed how close him and Allison were. Wait, had he just called her Allison in his head for the first time? There was something special about this moment and both of them froze. He knew that she had noticed the special as well, because she didn't take her eyes off of him, either. Chase had never been so close to her face before. Her skin was pure and looked soft, her eye lashes were long and curled upwards, her lips were parted slightly... "You're beautiful!"

The words had slipped out, Chase hadn't intended to say them out loud, even though he meant them. Again, surprise was reflected in her eyes, then she blushed a little and whispered: "So are you, Robert!"

And before he could even do anything, she leaned forward and their lips connected. Chase's one hand was still under the fossit's water, but he only noticed the other hand, that, without him consciously telling it to, went up to the back of Cameron's head, touching her hair. Her lips felt warm and soft against his. He leaned into it and closed his eyes. It was a butterfly kiss.

Even though his heart was racing, for one moment there was peace and calm.

After a while, their lips slowly parted again. Cameron looked up at him and he pulled her towards him with his free hand. Now her head rested on his shoulder, the way he had imagined it so many times before. Only that now it was real and even better than he had imagined.

"I'm tired", she said against the fabric of his sweater. Chase smiled. It had been a long night for her.

He accompanied her to the clinic's entrance, where they stood, looking awkwardly at each other. There was still a pleasant feeling of warmth in his chest, but now that they weren't alone anymore, somehow the distance between them had returned. "Sleep tight", he said. "And... Happy Valentine's Day."

They didn't kiss again, because there were too many people around. Chase stood and watched as Allison Cameron walked away, the light of dawn surrounding her. He smiled.

On his way back up, he was still smiling and the warmth hadn't left his chest. He felt light and happy and a little light-headed. As he walked around a corner, he stumbled into Wilson.

"Hello, Chase", Wilson greeted, as he passed him.

"Hi!", Chase responded, a little too cheerful.

Wilson turned around and frowned at him. "What's the matter?"

"What? Nothing. Everything's normal."

"Hm. Did anything... extraordinary happen or something?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You seem alarmingly happy."

"So? Can't I just be happy for no reason?"

At first Wilson didn't answer, he only smiled his weird little smile. "Not a good idea, Chase. You work with her." Then he walked on, leaving the blonde behind.

Wilson's words didn't wipe the smile off of Chase's face, though. He knew that the warm feeling would carry him throughout the day. Cameron's kiss had been the best gift he could imagine.

THE END

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